Doctor Who will be a millionaire in five year BBC pay deal

Doctor Who newcomer Matt Smith will be paid £1 million by the BBC over the next five years, according to reports.

Mr Smith's contract as the 11th Doctor Who ties him into the show for three yearsPhoto: BBC

By Alastair Jamieson

8:39AM GMT 11 Feb 2009

The 26-year-old actor has signed a £200,000-a-year deal with the corporation to appear in the science-fiction series from next year.

His salary is understood to be a fraction of the sum paid to the existing Timelord, David Tennant, who is leaving the programme.

The pay deal comes as the BBC begins to trim the huge pay deals it uses to attract to stars amid the economic climate and the controversy over Jonathan Ross. The BBC's top-paid star on a three-year contract of £18m, Ross was suspended without pay for 12 weeks in November –losing £1.4m – for his part in leaving a series of crude messages on the answering machine of the actor Andrew Sachs.